Alexie Summary Application

David Lyon

Eng 254

Alexie Summary Application

May 13, 2009


Summary:

Coulombe argues that Alexie uses humor as an all-purpose multi-tool. The multiple uses of this humor manifest themselves in Alexie’s characters. In a single moment a character will be using humor to accomplish several objectives. The characters use humor to assert themselves amidst prejudice and ignorance. At the same time they may be using humor to mask their insecurities. They may also use humor to simultaneously unite and divide groups of people. At times he uses the humor to challenge the assumptions of the reader. He forces the reader to rethink the American Indian - White dynamic. By using humor Alexie does not allow the reader to ever be comfortable, his humor creates a sense of tension and instability which mirrors reality. He quotes Bahtkin as saying that humor "demolishes fear and piety." Coulombe argues that Alexie does not want his reader to fear American Indian issues nor does he want the reader to be moved to silence by piety. He argues that Alexie's humor creates a space where people of different backgrounds and races can come together and think about the nature of the American Indian - White relationship. According to Coulombe Alexie’s often irreverent humor allows the reader to approach difficult issues with a sense of ease in that they do not feel the need to be politically correct. Continuing the theme of simultaneity, Alexie’s humor also creates a sense of uneasiness within the reader.
Coulombe also notices that Alexie's humor sometimes alienates him as a writer and his characters from their loved ones. This alienation is one characteristic of the Trickster character in American Indian folklore. Coulombe argues that Alexie, in many ways embodies the characteristics of the Trickster character. However, he also asserts that Alexie departs from the Trickster tradition in that he offers viable examples of how the world can be better. Through the character of Victor the reader sees an example of an American Indian who manages to achieve a certain degree of enlightenment. The classic Trickster character is exclusively devious, and does not aim for cultural improvement the way that Alexie does. He wraps up this essay by asserting that humor ultimately shows us how we are alike, and helps us to be playful about our differences.

Application:

Coulombe argues that Alexie's characters use humor to hide their own pain both physical (The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor) and emotional (Every Little Hurricane). In The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor Jimmy uses humor to cope with his large cancerous tumor. He compares the tumor to a baseball and goes on to make many jokes using this premise. This joking upsets Jimmy’s girlfriend Norma so much that the couple temporarily break up. Although Jimmy seems to be aloof, we as readers understand that he is using his humor to lighten the burden of his disease. His humor is the only weapon Jimmy has to fight the pain of his tumor. His characters also use humor as a way to respond to racism without rage, this is evident when James and Norma are stopped by the police officer and they both playfully tease him with humor rather than getting upset.
Coulombe says that Alexie’s humor is used to create a space within which cultural exchange is possible. This space is both safe and dangerous simultaneously. The space is safe because it is without taboo, meaning that both sides need not fear reprisal for speaking their mind. The space is dangerous because it is the contact point between two different paradigms, this will inevitably result in some conflict. In the title story The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven the narrator plays with this zone of contact. The narrator finds himself in a 7-11 late at night. In this closed space he is forced to exchange words with the white clerk. Through his thoughts and actions we see how the narrator eventually uses humor to first disturb and then to put the clerk at ease. The narrator initially playfully toys with the clerks apparent prejudice against young Indian men. He subtly embodies the stereotype which has been placed on him. Eventually though, he calms the clerk by making a joke about the Brady Bunch television program. In this instance the narrator is the protagonist, he initiates the action, he controls the situation, and he understands the relationship between himself and the clerk. The clerk on the other hand remains purely reactionary throughout the story. The clerk does not initiate action, he is manipulated by the narrator, and he is ignorant of the narrator’s intentions. This seems to show how Alexie uses humor to take control of the dynamic between American Indians and Whites. Alexie and the narrator both initiate contact, they establish the zone of contact, and they both seem to have an oversight of the nature of the relationship. This relationship seems to illustrate why Alexie uses his irreverent humor. The onus is on Alexie to open the hearts and minds of his readers, he must take the lead and antagonize the reader. Alexie must assume that his readers will be passive in the same way as the clerk of the seven eleven. Humor is the vehicle chosen by Alexie to break through the potential complacency and ignorance of his readers.















Works Cited

Coulombe, Joseph. “The Approximate Size of His Favorite Humor: Sherman Alexie’s Comic Connections and Disconnections in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” American Indian Quarterly 26 (winter 2002) : p. 94-115. Project Muse. Ohio University Lib. Athens, OH.

Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. 2nd. New York: Grove Atlantic Press, 2005. Print.